


One Mask Too Many

by XxKilledbyMusicxX



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: F/M, Friend Fluff, Gen, also, keep a watch out for clues through, literally sums this up in a nut shell, no spoilers for season two, okay, reveal eventually, so family fluff, then angst, there's something amiss, with Mrs. Agreste
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-10-30
Updated: 2016-10-30
Packaged: 2018-08-28 00:52:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,522
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8424301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XxKilledbyMusicxX/pseuds/XxKilledbyMusicxX
Summary: Nothing is as they seem, but that's something Adrien Agreste forgot, especially when it came to his mother. But Marinette just wishes that all the hard choices didn't fall to her for once.





	

The room was spinning, and she wished it would stop because she was going to be sick. Where was she again? Oh… that’s right. She was in the hospital again after she almost collapsed crying from the pain in her stomach. They… they had just called her back to talk about the results they got back. And.. the doctor was standing in front of her looking worried, and her husband- her wonderful, sweet husband- was staring at her worriedly. When did they- No, focus. How did talking work again?

She swallowed hard and opened her mouth. Ah, that’s right. “W-what?”

The doctor sighed, and he placed his clipboard on his desk. Why did he look so worried? It couldn’t have been that bad- “I’m afraid you’re-”

The room stopped spinning and everything came crashing down to earth.

~o~

Everything was going smoothly for once for Adrien Agreste. He was free for the entire day for once due to a mishap in scheduling, and he was planning to use every minute to enjoy himself (for once) with Nino doing anything they felt like doing. He even had a patrol scheduled with his Lady later, and any time spent with Ladybug was great. The only possible downside to today was the fact that his father was out of town in Spain for business, but it wasn’t anything he wasn’t used to. Heck, even an Akuma attack couldn’t ruin this day for him… if there were any.

He frowned at his notebook, ignoring the drone of Madame Bustier as she went on about kinetic and potential energy. Hawkmoth was less active these past week, only sending out one akuma out on Monday, and it was starting to worry both him and Ladybug. It just wasn’t like him to stop targeting people for days like this. But on that train of thought, however, his father had left for Spain on Tuesday. For a moment, he wondered if his father’s trip and Hawkmoth’s lack of akumas were related-

“Adrien? Care to share what’s on your mind?” He jumped slightly in his seat and awkwardly rubbed the back of his neck as he looked up at Madame Bustier, who stared down at him unamused.

“Uh… nothing but physics, ma’am,” Adrien tried with a smile, much to Nino’s amusement. He tried to kick him but missed.

She sighed and moved back to the front of the room. “Please do try to pay more attention.”

Two minutes later, Adrien felt a nudge on his leg and a quick glance towards Nino made him notice the folded piece of paper in between them. He pulled it closer, and after a quick glance toward Mme. Bustier, he opened it up.

‘Hey, man, are you okay?’ He smiled to himself, silently thankful for his best friend. He wrote down a hastily reply that said he was fine, and he slid it back across the bench towards Nino. But almost instantly, Adrien felt something hit the side of his head. Slightly annoyed, he grabbed the note and opened it up. ‘If this about your dad again, I can always drag Alya and Marinette over to ‘talk’ to him’. Adrien couldn’t help the snort that came out of him. The idea of tiny Marinette shouting down his father was almost too good to resist, but he pushed down on that. He could handle his father on his own… most of the time. He hastily wrote down that his father wasn’t even home to talk to, it wasn’t anything involving him, and he just had a lot on his mind, and passed it back. 

For the rest of the period, Adrien refused to respond to Nino’s notes. He had too much on his mind, and his friend’s questions, while he meant well, would only lead to awkward questions. He knew if he looked back at Nino, his resolve would break, so he stubbornly looked ahead and paid attention to… huh. When did they go on from various forms of energy to these… charts? And what was that equation?

 

~o~

 

Usually, Alya would tease Marinette about staring dreamily at the back of Adrien’s head, but for once, they were both staring at him. No, Alya didn’t develop a sudden attraction for Adrien (she swore up and down that Marinette might actually strangle her if that happened. She didn’t deny it). No, they were both worried. They had both seen Nino and Adrien passing notes, and then when Adrien had refused to write back or even look back, Nino passed it back to Alya who gave it to Marinette.

Marinette couldn’t help a frown as she skimmed over their conversation. This… wasn’t right. Adrien shouldn’t have to worry so much about his father. She knew that they had strained relations, in fact, Marinette could swear that the entire class knew at this point, but the fact that he was as okay as he could be with the fact that his father wasn’t going to be home for god’s knows how long while he stayed behind was… depressing. She looked up from the note and looked over towards Adrien again. He had told her, Ladybug, about what happened with his mom, and at the time, she had just filed it away under general information about Adrien Agreste. But now… she wondered about what else happened and how it affected the rest of his life at home. And then she felt guilty because Adrien hadn’t told her,  _ Marinette. _ He had told  _ Ladybug _ , and Marinette wasn’t suppose to know any of it. She groaned softly to herself. For now, she’ll put that guilt trip out of mind. Adrien’s well being was more important. She focused on what she knew about Adrien. Well… at the beginning of school, he had always seemed so lonely. And every time, he had been made a part of something with a group of people, he had seemed so happy and eager to help. So maybe something social? But with the way he pushed Nino out slightly made it seem like he didn’t really want help. So maybe something small with just the four of them?

She scribbled out a quick note on a spare sheet of paper. ‘Are you going to the cafe for lunch?’,  and she passed it to Alya to give to Nino.

Didn’t take long for her to get a reply. ‘We were plannin’ to, yea. Why?’

...Crap, she didn’t think this far ahead. No, Marinette, focus! You can’t stop now, this is for Adrien! ‘Can Alya and I come along too? Just to make sure he doesn’t feel alone?’ She passed it along before she lost her nerve, and the approving look Alya gave her didn’t help any. That was a mistake, crap, she should have lunged for it no matter how stupid it made her look, but then-

‘That’s great! He needs to talk to more people besides me, anyway.’ She breathed a sigh of relief just as the bell rung.

“Girl, I did not think you had it in you to invite yourself over to Adrien’s lunch,” Ayla beamed at her as they got their stuff.

Marinette groaned. “I don’t. I don’t know what I was thinking! Oh, I’m going to look so stupid, and he’s never going to like me-”

“Relax!” Alya said patting her on the back reassuringly. “You pulled that courage out of somewhere, and you can find it again! ...But seriously, what were you thinking?”

“I don’t knoooooooow…”

~o~

 

“Marinette! My woman! The girl destined to achieve greatness,” said Nino dramatically behind Adrien. He whirled to see Alya walking up to them while Marinette hid behind her. He pulled out a smile for the two of them, genuinely glad to see them. He considered them close friends, and while he didn’t know what he did to make Marinette so nervous around him, he admired them both for their spirit. Though… that didn’t explain why Nino was being so excited in particular to see Marinette. While Adrien thought Nino was over his crush on Marinette, he would gladly support his friend if that wasn’t the case-

“What no hello for me?” Alya joked, step-siding out from Marinette’s grasp.

Nino winked at her. Ah. There went that theory. “You aren’t the one whose parents are about to supply you and your best bud with the best bread in the city!” ...and that was news to him. Adrien wasn’t going to protest though.

But poor Marinette looked like she was about to pass out. Guessing that she had been put on the spot, Adrien could sympathize, especially when Alya reached over and grabbed her friend in a one-armed hug. “Really? Then we best come with you two to make sure that you don’t rob ‘em blind,” she joked with a smirk.

“I’m fine with two _lovely_ ladies accompanying us,” Nino said, but he took a double-take a moment after. “Uh, if that’s okay with you, bro.” Has he mentioned how great of a friend, Nino was? Because he was the _best._

Adrien couldn’t disagree. “Sure,” he smiled at the two. Marinette seemed to wilt a little, and he wondered distantly whether or not she was okay. The day wasn’t that hot, was it? “The more, the better, right?” He continued.

“Depends on who you’re talking about,” Alya joked as they left the school behind. She walked next to Nino, so he dropped behind a little to walk with Marinette to avoid being bumped into the road. She gave a small meep.

Nino gasped jokingly. “You better not be talking about me!”

“So what if I am?” She shot back with a smile.

“N-now, now, ladies,” Marinette said, and he looked toward her in time to see her shy smile twitch. “You’re both pretty.”

He laughed at that, and he was sad to notice that Marinette had instantly reverted to her shy self when he did so. The rest of the walk passed similarly with Nino and Alya teasing each other back and forth and Marinette offering a snarky comment here and there. But Adrien was just content to walk beside them and listen. It wasn’t because he was feeling antisocial or anything like that, or that he didn’t want to make Marinette uncomfortable (though that was part of it). He was just enjoying the time they were spending together as a group for once. Adrien left himself drift off as they walked, letting the conversation fall into background noise. It was a nice day outside, he mused as they walked along. The skies were bright, but it was cloudy enough so it wasn’t too bad on the eyes.

But eventually his nose drew him back into reality. Nino had apparently been watching him out of the corner of his eye because he slowed down enough to walk next to him. Throwing his arm around his shoulders, he gestured with his other, moving it across dramatically. “You smell that, man?” He said with an exaggerated sniff, “That is the smell of  _ greatness. _ ”

He nodded. What else could he do? The wonderful smells of chocolate cookies fresh out of the oven, delicate croissants cooked a beautiful golden-brown, and he could even smell the cakes baking. He sighed happily.

Marinette seemed to puff up slightly at the compliments to her parents’ cooking. “Maman and Papa make the best cookies,” She said proudly without a single stutter.

Alya threw a grin back at them. “You said it, girl! Now, if you excuse me, I’ll be the first one to taste it!” And she broke out into a full on sprint.

Nino yelped. “Oh, no you don’t!” and he followed after. Adrien couldn’t help but laugh, and he broke out running after them. He couldn’t really remember the last time he felt so free as Adrien, and privately, he wished it would never stop.

With all the time he spends as Chat Noir, it was no wonder that he out ran both Nino and Alya easy, but he was surprised to see a laughing Marinette keeping up with him. He grinned at her, and she smirked back- wait. Adrien stumbles a little, almost tripping over his own feet. For a moment, she had looked like- no, that’s was stupid. It was probably just wishful thinking.

“Ha!” Marinette breathed as she slammed open the door to the bakery. “I win!”

Adrien pouted a little when he walked in after her. He, hesitating slightly, punched Marinette lightly in the shoulder. He’s seen other people do it, and he’s done it with Nino a couple of times so it should be fine, right? Marinette stiffened a little bit before she relaxed, and he smiled widely. Deciding to push his luck a little, he jokingly said, “Jeez, Marinette, what's in the food your parents make? Because you’re one tough cookie.” Oh crap, ohcrap, ohcrap, that  _ did not come out right- _

He jumped about ten feet in the air when he felt a clap on his shoulder. He looked up nervously at Marinette’s father, Tom Dupain-Cheng who stared down at him with a smile on his face. It wasn’t one like his father’s which always felt cold and distant. Mssr. Dupain-Cheng’s smiles were like Marinette’s, and it was the sun was beaming down at him. He was stunned speechless for a moment. It had been so long since he had felt any sort of parental affection, and he was distantly reminded of a similar smile from a long time ago- when he was kid in curled up next to a warm body during a rainy day-

“Who wants cookies?” Mssr. Dupain-Cheng’s voice rang out, and he moved to greet Nino and Alya at the door. Adrien was grateful for the brief distraction, and he quickly wiped his face with his sleeve before anyone noticed.

 

~o~

 

Marinette noticed. It wasn’t because she was staring at Adrien when her father had clapped his hand down on his shoulder in hopes that her parents wouldn’t embarrass her in front of her crush (she totally was). But the brief moment of vulnerability and hurt had flashed across his face in an instant, and she saw the beginning of tears in his eyes. She knew her father saw too, and when he moved off to greet Alya and Nino, she had waited a moment before walking up to Adrien. Marinette shoved all her insecurities and her feelings aside for a moment, and she put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. That…  _ mess _ wasn’t really important right now. What was important was the fact that Adrien was hurting because someone couldn’t be bothered to give his son the attention he needed.

Adrien stiffened when she touched him, and he relaxed a little before turning toward her with a smile. “Oh, Marinette! Um, the bagels here look delicious?” He said a little unsure of himself, and in that moment, she could have decked Gabriel Agreste with zero regrets. The same way she could have strangled Nino and died in same moment when he _ changed the plan last minute and decided to head to her family’s bakery- _

Calm, Marinette. Adrien doesn’t need to know about your mental freakouts, she told herself firmly keeping a soft smile on her face. If her eye twitched, she hoped he didn’t notice. “Come on,” she said softly, tugging his arm to the cookies. “It’s on the house.”

Her mother, coming out of the kitchen to see what the all the noise was about, raised an eyebrow at that. She shooed her mother, mouthing an ‘I’ll explain later’ at her as she tugged Adrien (Oh dear lord, she was touching his arm, oh beautiful day-!) toward the display. 

He missed the sideplay, and he gaped stupidly at Marinette before his brain starting working again. He tried to dig his heels into the floor, but she kept on walking. “No, I can pay!” He insisted frantically, “You don’t need to do this- it’s fine!”

Marinette whirled to face him, and she opened her mouth to say something before she realized she was about to channel her inner Ladybug and yelled at him. She blushed a deep red before looking at the ground. “B-but I want to,” she said. The space between them was quiet for a little, and she thanked god (or was it gods with the kwamis?) that the bakery was empty for once. With her father and friends chattering in the background, she looked up to see Adrien’s surprised face. Marinette blushed again.

He looked down with a soft smile and started to rub the back of his neck. “Thanks,” he said earnestly, and something in Marinette died alittle.

She opened her mouth again, probably to say something stupid, when Alya slid up next to her. “I heard something was on the house?”

Nino was by Adrien, offering support just by being there. He poked Adrien in the side. “You better not have been planning to hog all the food to yourself!”

Marinette rolled her eyes while Adrien laughed. “Now, now kids,” her father said joyfully, walking up behind them, “There’s enough food to go around so help yourselves!”

While Nino and Alya cheered, she caught Adrien’s eye and mouthed, ‘Any time.” And he gave her the sweetest smile. Internally, Marinette gulped. This boy was going to be the death of her.

 

~o~

 

Adrien was having the time of his life here in this tiny bakery.  Marinette’s parents were the sweetest people he had ever met besides their daughter. Mme. Dup- Sabine had insisted that he call her and her husband by their first names the moment he tried to thank them. Then she shoved a pastry in his hand. He was pretty sure that he saw Marinette and her mother exchanging glances earlier, but Alya and Nino had pushed those thoughts out of his head with jokes and snide remarks. God, he couldn’t remember the last time he laughed this hard.

But good things can’t always last forever. His ringtone pierced through his happy bubble and popped it. With a sinking heart, he excused himself from the main room. He didn’t miss the miss the worried look that passed from face to face. Sabine ushered him into the living room, and she told him to make himself comfortable. He thanked her, and he stared at his phone for one ring… then another.

Plagg zipped out of his shirt pocket and hovered beside him. For once, he wasn’t begging for cheese. “It’s not going to stop ringing, ya know.” He remarked dryly. “Best to get it over with.”

“I know, Plagg,” He said staring at his phone. He didn’t make a move to answer it. It was Nathalie, of course. His father couldn't be bothered to do such trivial things. That wasn’t why he wasn’t answering though. He just… didn’t want this to end. He was having such a great time here… alright, fine. He’ll admit to himself that he didn’t want to leave the comfort and friendliness of Marinette’s home for the cold, empty house he lived in. There was just something about the Dupain-Cheng’s that felt… homely (how often could he say that? His house certainly didn’t feel that way, and no matter how Chloe acts, he knew that she was fighting for a portion of her father’s time more than anyone else was). Plagg, of course, didn’t feel the same way. With a roll of his eyes, he hit the green button on his phone.

“Adrien?” Nathalie’s brisk business voice came of his speaker.

With a sigh, he put the phone next to his ear. “Yes, Nathalie? I thought I didn’t have shoots scheduled for today.”

“You do not, but so-” She hesitated a little, and he shot to attention. That wasn’t like her at all.

“Is everything alright, Natalie?” A terrifying thought came to him. “Something didn’t happen to Pere, did it?!”

“No, Adrien. Your father is fine.”

He flopped back into the cushions, relieved. That was some good news at least. But why then-? “Is there something else then?”

“Someone has come to see you, and it’s… urgent.” That was never good. The last time he heard that Chloe had stormed over to his house and demanded he go shopping with her. “I’ll have your driver pick you up right away. Where are you?”

Sighing, he said, “12 Rue Gotlib in the 21st arrondissement.”

He could practically hear Natalie’s eyebrow raise at that, but for once, she didn’t question it. “He’ll be there in five minutes, wait outside.”

“Alright… Bye, Natalie.”

“Good-bye, Adrien.”

He sighed and put his head in his hands. Plagg zipped around him almost reassuringly, but it wasn’t till he flipped Adrien’s hair that he looked up. Plagg gave him an unamused look, but Adrien knew him long enough to see the sympathy behind it. “Stop sulking, kid. The more you obsess over it, the worse you’re gonna feel.”

“I know,” Adrien groaned out, but he didn’t move. How could he? This day was going so well… and knowing that even Nathalie wasn’t willing to tell him exactly what was going on wasn’t helping. His father (because who else could it b- please don’t be Chloe) must have found another thing wrong with his life, and he’s probably calling him back to forbid to do another thing he enjoys. But then why wouldn’t Nathalie say someone and not call his father by his name- He closed his eyes and tried to block out the world and the upcoming headache that was sure to come. But in the end, it was the feeling of Plagg’s eyes on him that got him moving again.

With a sigh, he held open one side of his shirt for Plagg, and as he headed into the bakery, he felt his heart drop his into his stomach. Strange that the first thing he noticed when he walked in was the sudden drop in Marinette’s expression.

 

~o~

 

Marinette flopped onto her bed, and she curled up next to her cat pillow with a frown on her face. When Adrien had walked back into the bakery, he had the world’s most downtrodden expression. Like he had a prize ripped away from the moment he had it in hand, and listening to him explain to her parents that while he was really grateful for everything he still had to leave, Marinette realized that was exactly how he felt. Tikki zoomed out from where she was hiding and patted her on the head as she mulled over Adrien’s distressed look.

“It’s not right, Tikki,” Marinette said, turning to face her tiny kwami. “He shouldn’t be so worried about going home.”

Tikki hummed a little. “What do you plan to do about it?”

Biting her lip in thought, Marinette sat up. “Well… his birthday is coming up- wait, no. I need something more immediate, but I really should start that hoodie soon. Um, there’s that class trip we’ve been planning, argh, but he gets uncomfortable when people stare at him in public-”

“How about you start with something small?” Tikki interrupted Marinette’s panicked ramble. “He was really happy just spending time with everyone, wasn’t he?”

She nodded slowly. “Yea…?” She knew that. But that wasn’t going to help her now-

“So why don’t you go and visit him at his house?” The kwami suggested with a smile.

Marinette’s brain shut down. A distant part of her wondered why she was still acting this way when she had spent practically 3 hours with the boy, but it was shoved in the corner in favour of panicking. “W-what!?!?” She shrieked, and Tikki winced. “Tikki, I-I can’t!”

“Why not? You did pretty well when you cheered him up earlier!” Tikki smiled at her. She did, didn’t she- wait, no! Don’t focus on that now, you’ll just shut down again! Think about Adrien- Ack! Not that way! Think about how he looked sad and how you need to cheer him up again!

She took a deep breath, and ignoring the way Tikki beamed at her, she managed to get out, “I-I’ll see him in a little bit.”

“Great!”

“....Should I bring cookies? Or would that be too sudden? Oh no, what if Mr. Agreste has Adrien on a diet and I just screwed everything up-” ...Maybe that trip would have to wait till tomorrow. Today was a Friday after all (Ah! She had patrol with Chat tonight. She promised him cookies.), and it was the weekend tomorrow. Nothing could go too badly in that time frame, right?

 

~o~

 

The moment Adrien walked into the house, he knew something was up. Actually, the moment he got into the car was the moment he knew this wasn’t simply a message from his father. For one, his bodyguard was abnormally silent even for him on the way home, and he hadn’t even dared to talk to Plagg because the atmosphere was so  _ tense. _ He wasn’t even going to talk about the way they had practically speeded all the way home. He swore that they didn’t drop past 60 km, well above the normal speed limit.

And then when he walked in the house, Nathalie was standing there. There were… tears in her eyes? “Nathalie? What’s wrong?! I thought you said everything was fine!” He asked alarmed, throwing his bag onto the floor and running towards her.

A shake of her head made him freeze midstep. “N-no, Adrien,” She said, sniffling a little. “Everything’s just… fine. Come on, now. They’re waiting in the office for you.”

He was confused, but he gave Natalie a nod and headed toward the office anyway. He couldn’t help be worried still. Not many things made Natalie break her cold facade (He could count the amount of times he’s made her laugh on one hand, actually), and it was always not for long. And then there was the “they’re” thing. That was new.

Standing in front of the door, Adrien took in a deep breath before pushing open the door. “You wanted to see m….?” He said before he really registered who was standing there. His breath caught in his throat, and he almost choked.

“Adrien!” Said his mother with the same beaming smile she use- always wore. Her figure was blurry (Were those tears dripping down his cheeks?), but she looked the same as the last time he saw her. “You’ve grown so much.”

He wanted to laugh (because she’s been gone for  _ years _ , how could he not have grown?!), but he let out a choked sob instead. Rushing forward, he wrapped his arms around her in a hug. She was solid and warm, and when her arms came around him, he broke down. “I-I’ve m-missed you so much,” He managed to get out. Adrien felt her warm smile on the back of his neck as he cried, and it made everything okay. He pushed Hawkmoth out and the ongoing problems with his father out of mind because they could wait. Because she- his wonderful mother was home now, and he  _ wasn’t letting her go again. _

Her arms grew a little tighter, and he felt her shake a little. “I’ve missed you too.”

_ Welcome home _

~~_ Stranger _ ~~


End file.
